Petzl Tikka Pouch Modification part 2

I have posted about the mods I made to a stock Petzl Tikka pouch. Well, the time came to add another modification to it.

I’ve been carrying it on my Messenge’mups, but the main compartment kept being pushed out. I found it yesterday with the Tikka partially hanging out. Not wanting to lose it, I figured a simple fix was in order.

 The simple fix was to add two small tabs, one holding a CordLock, with bungee cord through it.

Piece of cake. Ten minutes of sewing tops. No possibility of a lost headlamp now. And if the bungee cord gives up the ghost (which it inevitably will), it’s a simple matter to replace it.

Modified TT Frag Pouch Modification

I had a Tactical Tailor frag pouch that I modified for the purposes of carrying my Petzl TacTikka. It was good, but I decided to tweak it a little further. The pouch was sized to hold a frag, and as such left a lot of room between the top of the pouch portion and the flap. I opted to shorten the flap, replace the PALS with CLASP and in general make it a tighter, smaller package. Modify the modification. Version 2.

The pouch as it was before I went at it.

I took the PALS off the back, and the strap and buckle off the flap...

...as well as the strap and buckle off the bottom...

...and also a strip of webbing along the back that was meant to hold the spoon from the grenade in place.

Taking the PALS off the back opened up the whole seam, so I opted to remove the webbing I had put in originally for the battery slots...

...and replace them. Considerably easier this way, with the room to move the needle around.

 The PALS was to be replaced with CLASP (Cord Lattice Attachment System Pattern). Here you can see I unstitched the seam tape around the flap...

...and here the flap cut back a ways.

The next step was cutting the seam tape and then sewing it back in place.

And here it is completed. Not a massive change from what it was, but a bit lighter and tighter.

The bottom drain hole covered up with the buckle strap. Something I’m doing with everything now. Still allows the water out, but prevents all kinds of dust and sand and crud from getting in.

No more 1" gap.

As usual, I can’t for love or money get the CLASP to go on perfectly spaced and straight. I console myself with the knowledge that it won’t be visible when it’s mounted and it is strong.

TT Frag Pouch Modification

One of the forums I frequent has an ongoing thread about the three best pieces of gear you’ve bought in the last five years. Two things keep popping up: Leatherman Wave and Petzl Tikka. I have both, and couldn’t agree more.

The headlamp in particular is so handy I couldn’t imagine being without it. I have two, one being a Tikka (which I carry in this pouch), and the other being a TacTikka XP (which needs to win an award just on the basis of a clever name).

I had a Tactical Tailor Frag Pouch, and found that it fits inside it perfectly.

Like most everything else from Tactical Tailor, it’s not particularly polished but it’s well made.

The one thing I wanted though was to be able to keep batteries with the headlamp itself. Keeping them loose in the pouch though might mean them flying out when removing the headlamp.

What I ended up doing was sewing two small pockets down the sides, each one able to hold a small zip lock bag containing 3 AAA batteries.

Using two pieces of 2" webbing, it was a bit tricky to get them sewn in, but it worked.

It’s not pretty, but it works, and quite well. The batteries are held in quite snug, and I don’t worry that I’ll lose them.

Petzl Tikka Pouch Modification part 1

Petzl really hit on a winner with their whole Tikka/Zipka line.

The pouch that you can get for it is okay, but I though of ways to make it better.

The Velcro closure has the problem that it is Velcro. Replaced it with a side release buckle.

It’s meant to go around a belt or pack strap, which is all right, but not ideal. I wanted it to be a modular attachment system. So I added PALS webbing to the back.

But the pièce de résistance are two tiny slot pockets on the inside to hold the coloured lenses in place. May as well keep them with the light itself.

Front showing side release buckle.

Back showing PALS webbing.

Open showing the lens holders.

Closeup of the lens holders. Top part is a piece of elastic.

Lenses popping out.

Close-up. Easy to access them and swap out for night time use.

Oh, and the whole thing was done by hand on the train.

You can see a further addition I made to it here.